While both Government and private schools are shut for summer vacations across Kashmir, the coaching centres are open from 2.00 -5.00 P.M for regular classes and as such are functioning just like schools during the summer break .Surprisingly both the School Education Directorate Kashmir and as well as Coaching Centres Association are silent over the violation of the summer break by the coaching centres across Kashmir. Irrefutable fact is that summer break has been announced for giving relief and respite to the students from the sweltering heat of midsummer in the month of July. What has gone unnoticed is the fact that Directorate Of School Education has in it’s order annouunced summer break for Government and Private Schools without mentioning about summer break for coaching centres of Kashmir Valley as well. While the main motive of summer vacations is to give relief and respite to students from intensifying heat wave in midsummer, the students can’t be allowed to go for vacations at schools and continue attending coaching centres for more than half day during the summer break. While the schools have playgrounds and open spaces for extracurricular activities, the Coaching Centres don’t have the facility of either the playgrounds or open spaces for extracurricular activities which by all standards of understandabilities could put children to greater health risks. Better for the Government not to announce summer break for schools if it does not announce summer break for coaching centres also. While coaching centres owe explanations for risking the health of the students by keeping classes open during the summer break, the Directorate Of School Education Kashmir does not call for explanations from coaching centres for such violations.
“The Directorate Of School Education Kashmir has virtually reduced the summer break to a crude joke by allowing the coaching centres to keep classes open for more than half day during summer break just to ease their job of completing the ongoing coaching courses in short time and launch admission for new batches at their own convenient timings. Directorate of School Education Kashmir as such also owes explanations to the people for allowing the coaching centres to carry forward their commercial practices and procedures not only in implementation of decisions like summer break but also in regulation of their fee structure. Shockingly the Chairman Private Coaching Centres Association G N Var known for crying much over the Government interventions in functioning of coaching centres chooses to remain silent when it comes to violations on either summer break or regulation of fee structures”.
Unfortunately the School Education Department does not also empower the J&K Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee (J&K FFRC) a statutory body of J&K Government regulating the fee structure of private schools to regulate the fee structure of coaching centres also. The Deputy Commissioners regulating the working of coaching centres in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division also take a lenient view of the public complaints against the coaching centres in both Kashmir Valley and as well as Jammu division. The Directorate Of School Education Kashmir has virtually reduced the summer break to a crude joke by allowing the coaching centres to keep classes open for more than half day during summer break just to ease their job of completing the ongoing coaching courses in short time and launch admission for new batches at their own convenient timings. Directorate of School Education Kashmir as such also owes explanations to the people for allowing the coaching centres to carry forward their commercial practices and procedures not only in implementation of decisions like summer break but also in regulation of their fee structure. Shockingly the Chairman Private Coaching Centres Association G N Var known for crying much over the Government interventions in functioning of coaching centres chooses to remain silent when it comes to violations on either summer break or regulation of fee structures.
